There's Probably Nothing Nashville Could Do To Make Me Stop Loving It

Because I loved Beverly Hills, 90210, I thought I would love The O.C. And I did try. It tried too -- tried my patience. Did every episode have to climax at a third-act gala party at which Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie) embarrassed his adoptive family by beating someone up? When the show's other fans reacted with violent anger at the introduction of saboteur Oliver (Taylor Handley), but I was thrilled: finally, someone at the show was planning for soapy intrigue! Alas, it was not to be, and I bailed on The O.C. midway through its second-season premiere, never to return.

Nashville is another show that seems tailor-made for me, not just because of how much I love Connie Britton (I love her the most) and people singing and Powers Boothe being evil. And while the series premiere was unusually strong, and the show and I are still in the honeymoon phase, and there probably isn't anything that could make me stop watching it, that's not to say there aren't some elements of the show that I'm not keeping an eye on.

What's with the trifling-ass husband?

Eric Close is very dreamy, and as the pilot begins, it seems like his Teddy and Britton's Rayna have a good marriage and like each other. But as soon as we find out that Deacon (Charles Esten) not only has been playing with Rayna forever but has been in love with her all along -- and she knows -- we know the show will want us to want them to get together. So what could possibly make Rayna stray from her nice, cute husband? His getting into bed (politically) with her evil dad, Lamar, which means (1) making a huge decision without consulting his wife: (2) screwing over the candidate Rayna actually wanted to support; and (3) causing the family to have to spend more time with Lamar even though Rayna clearly hates him. This is all scumbag behaviour. Rayna is going along with it so far, but clearly it can't last, or can it? And if she has to accede to a loveless marriage for the sake of his career, can we continue to like her?

Is the political stuff going to get boring?

The problem with The O.C. is that producers thought we cared about Sandy's legal cases, or Kristin's real estate business. We didn't. All this business about the Nashville mayoral race had better not pull focus from the singing and the music-industry machinations and spangly costumes we're all actually here for.

Juliette and Deacon are hooking up?!

Deacon's been pining after Rayna his entire adult life, yet by the end of the episode he's not only considering leaving her band, but he's got himself a juvenile sidepiece, too? Okay, okay, you're right, it was only a kiss. Still, it's potentially cause for concern.

How is the relationship between Rayna and Juliette going to play out?

What the pilot did well in terms of setting up the relationship between Rayna and Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) was to give each woman good cause to resent the other. If it had only been the record label putting Juliette in Rayna's way, leaving Juliette basically just a pawn in the label's whole scheme, then Rayna's attitude toward Juliette would make her seem petty. But Juliette is taking an active role in usurping Rayna. Similarly, Juliette has cause to go after Rayna: she knows Rayna is shit-talking Juliette to people who can affect her career. Producers are going to have to be careful to keep it this way -- serious business, for both women -- and not let the plotting devolve into Dynasty-style catfighting because bitches gonna catfight.

Are we supposed to be anxious that Rayna's going to be poor soon?

In the first place, there's nothing more boring than watching people talk about money on TV; it stops stories dead and forces us to situate the show -- ultimately a pretend fantasy -- in a real-world context. In the second, Rayna isn't actually poor. She comes from a very wealthy family, her husband hasn't worked in years, and if they sold that house they could probably live very comfortably for quite some time. So let's not waste too much time on her figuring out where her mortgage payment is going to come from. We all remember that saggy middle third of Bunheads's first season; let's learn from it and do better this time.